discogram

[jayc123]

hello, i just had a discogram yesterday on 3 discs. before this ive had 2 mris,2 xrays, injections and pt(injections didnt work, pt made it worse) my question is if the mri showed the herniations why bother with a discogram? is this common or just more money for the doctor? i didnt want to do it because of possible complications but also didnt want to seem difficult. the surgeon also wants to do fusions instead of lamenectomies(i think its spelled). i was advised against it by the WC doc because im only 37 she said. would this also be more money for the surgeon?please help me out it seems thier all looking for the money, even my attorney, thanks jay

[jayne]

a discogram will show if there is a leak or complete blowout that could be fixed by anything other than a fusion...no one can force you to have surgery...they can however close your case and put you at MMI if you refuse.

[Woodlawn]

(03-03-2012 04:34 PM)jayc123 Wrote:  hello, i just had a discogram yesterday on 3 discs. before this ive had 2 mris,2 xrays, injections and pt(injections didnt work, pt made it worse) my question is if the mri showed the herniations why bother with a discogram? is this common or just more money for the doctor? i didnt want to do it because of possible complications but also didnt want to seem difficult. the surgeon also wants to do fusions instead of lamenectomies(i think its spelled). i was advised against it by the WC doc because im only 37 she said. would this also be more money for the surgeon?please help me out it seems thier all looking for the money, even my attorney, thanks jay

Discograms are generally unreliable and do not show "blowouts," whatever those are. If you do not want it, tell them you don't. As to the question about money for the doctor, it depends,

A fusion at 37 probably isn't the best idea, since you'll have reduced range of motion for the remainder of your life, not to mention fusions tend to result in advancing degeneration at the levels above and below, thus necessitating another surgery. Unless you have spondylolisthesis, it probably isn't a great idea yet. Obviously, you have to decide how much you can live with.

Yes, a fusion would result in a nice payday for the surgeon and it some places the goal is to get someone to a fusion because it will result in money for the doctor, and generally a higher impairment rating which means more $ for your attorney.

I would insist on a second opinion before going through with any kind of back surgery (laminectomy, discectomy, whatever.) Don't worry about being difficult when they are wanting to do things with your spine that cannot be undone.

[jayc123]

(03-03-2012 07:23 PM)jayne Wrote:  a discogram will show if there is a leak or complete blowout that could be fixed by anything other than a fusion...no one can force you to have surgery...they can however close your case and put you at MMI if you refuse.

thanks jayne for the reply so fast. that was my concerne because the 2 mris clearly shows the "blowouts" with compression on the thecal sac with stenosis,so it seemed to me that it got done for no reason other than money

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(03-04-2012 11:56 AM)Woodlawn Wrote:  

(03-03-2012 04:34 PM)jayc123 Wrote:  hello, i just had a discogram yesterday on 3 discs. before this ive had 2 mris,2 xrays, injections and pt(injections didnt work, pt made it worse) my question is if the mri showed the herniations why bother with a discogram? is this common or just more money for the doctor? i didnt want to do it because of possible complications but also didnt want to seem difficult. the surgeon also wants to do fusions instead of lamenectomies(i think its spelled). i was advised against it by the WC doc because im only 37 she said. would this also be more money for the surgeon?please help me out it seems thier all looking for the money, even my attorney, thanks jay

Discograms are generally unreliable and do not show "blowouts," whatever those are. If you do not want it, tell them you don't. As to the question about money for the doctor, it depends,

A fusion at 37 probably isn't the best idea, since you'll have reduced range of motion for the remainder of your life, not to mention fusions tend to result in advancing degeneration at the levels above and below, thus necessitating another surgery. Unless you have spondylolisthesis, it probably isn't a great idea yet. Obviously, you have to decide how much you can live with.

Yes, a fusion would result in a nice payday for the surgeon and it some places the goal is to get someone to a fusion because it will result in money for the doctor, and generally a higher impairment rating which means more $ for your attorney.

I would insist on a second opinion before going through with any kind of back surgery (laminectomy, discectomy, whatever.) Don't worry about being difficult when they are wanting to do things with your spine that cannot be undone.

thanks woodlawn, im completely against fusions so they wont be doing that.i would get a 2nd opinion but it took 5 months to get this guy after refusing the 1st surgeon that wanted to do 2 separate operations.everything ive seen about discograms said they were unreliable thats why i was stumped with this one. this surgeon does lectures on non invasive surgeries so to hear him talk about fusions so easily in my case set me back a bit. i knew they would go for money i just didnt think they would be this blatant about it.thanks again

[bronco54501]

I was 38 when I had the fusion to the sijoint and lots of hardware. I also declined to have the 2 level fusion at l4-l5 and l5-s1.. The surgeon for warned me it would not help with the back pain but should help with nerve pain in the leg... There is no gaurantee with any surgery, but weather its an mri/ctscan/x-ray/discogram/mylogram(spelling), they all serve a purpose one might show somthing in more detail that would suggest a bit less agression in surgery.

[jayne]

so many opinions so little time... say what you want about them woodlawn before the discogram I was offered 3,000 dollars as a settlement, with no medical my lawyer and Dr said it wasnt enough to get me fixed so we went to court.The judge sent me to his Dr who ordered the discograms on both the neck and lower back after these tests my next settlement offer was a hellva lot higher and when I did settle it was for over 100 times the first offer so continue saying the test is worthless.I dont have the same opinion.

[jayc123]

(03-04-2012 04:07 PM)bronco54501 Wrote:  I was 38 when I had the fusion to the sijoint and lots of hardware. I also declined to have the 2 level fusion at l4-l5 and l5-s1.. The surgeon for warned me it would not help with the back pain but should help with nerve pain in the leg... There is no gaurantee with any surgery, but weather its an mri/ctscan/x-ray/discogram/mylogram(spelling), they all serve a purpose one might show somthing in more detail that would suggest a bit less agression in surgery.

i do see your point about the purposes thats why i gave him the benefit of the doubt,but you cant help but feel that way,they are also in business for themselves, anyway was the fusion helpful for you and leg pain?did it hinder your mobility at all?thanks for helping

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(03-04-2012 04:41 PM)jayne Wrote:  so many opinions so little time... say what you want about them woodlawn before the discogram I was offered 3,000 dollars as a settlement, with no medical my lawyer and Dr said it wasnt enough to get me fixed so we went to court.The judge sent me to his Dr who ordered the discograms on both the neck and lower back after these tests my next settlement offer was a hellva lot higher and when I did settle it was for over 100 times the first offer so continue saying the test is worthless.I dont have the same opinion.

everyone has one, but it definately sounds it worked out for you,but thats what im looking for because every situation is different, did you end up having any work done after and if so did it help, and is there anything you could warn me about to not make any stupid rookie mistakes?thanks even any info about dealing with lawyers will help too

[jayne]

I had the cervical fusion with donor bone...it didnt turn out well I produce to much scar tissue,which seems to be a problem with natural red heads.I never did fuse and now have the disc above and below the fusion blown..lumbar discs I did not have done at all because of all the problems I had with the cervical area...My PCP also said as long as I could walk and they could control my pain leave it be as I had so many problems with the cervical surgery and didnt get but a couple days of pain relief.If you have a family Dr you trust go talk to him and ask him his opinion since he doesnt have a dog in the hunt he will tell you the truth....I will tell you all the tests they done before the MRI didnt find the stuff the Discogram did.Everyone has their own opinion since the discogram paid off my farm and everything I owed and some left over where the MRI left me losing everything I will take the Discogram...

[Cervical_Fusion]

(03-04-2012 08:16 PM)jayne Wrote:  I had the cervical fusion with donor bone...it didnt turn out well I produce to much scar tissue,which seems to be a problem with natural red heads.I never did fuse and now have the disc above and below the fusion blown..lumbar discs I did not have done at all because of all the problems I had with the cervical area...My PCP also said as long as I could walk and they could control my pain leave it be as I had so many problems with the cervical surgery and didnt get but a couple days of pain relief.If you have a family Dr you trust go talk to him and ask him his opinion since he doesnt have a dog in the hunt he will tell you the truth....I will tell you all the tests they done before the MRI didnt find the stuff the Discogram did.Everyone has their own opinion since the discogram paid off my farm and everything I owed and some left over where the MRI left me losing everything I will take the Discogram...

Jayne you make some valid points.

[jayne]

everyone has different opinions no need to be ugly about what works for some may not work for others.